In ancient times, she gave birth to seven daughters and was divorced by her husband's family.

Qingzhou Prison.

The light in here is dim, and the air is filled with the smell of rotting straw.

Rubao was roughly pushed into the prison door. She stumbled a few steps and fell to the cold, wet ground.

The iron door locked behind her with a clang.

"let me out!"

Rubao got up from the ground and grabbed the cold iron bars with both hands. She shook with all her strength.

She yelled out into the darkened hallway.

"Do you know who I am?"

Her voice was filled with anger and fear.

"You untouchables! How dare you arrest me!"

"I'm telling you, you're going to regret this! I'm going to kill you! Kill all of you!"

Standing in the aisle were two Qingzhou government runners, wearing dark brown official uniforms and with swords hanging from their waists.

One of them was older, with a shallow scar on his face, while the other was younger, with a somewhat childish look.

They looked at the mad girl in the prison. Her clothes were luxurious, although a little messy during the arrest, but the material was the finest silk.

She had a beautiful face, with a hint of arrogance between her eyebrows.

The young yamen runner frowned. He didn't like the tone of her voice.

The older yamen runner just watched calmly. He had seen too many prisoners. All kinds of them.

"Little girl, save your energy."

The older yamen runner spoke.

"When you get here, just be quiet."

Seeing someone respond, Rubao became even more excited and pressed her face against the railing.

"Behave? You want me to be behaved?"

"You are a bunch of blind people! I am a noble of the Great Stone Kingdom! What gives you the right to arrest me?!"

"I have never been treated so unfairly in my life!!!"

"Untouchables! Let me go! I'll kill you! I'll tear you into pieces!"

The young yamen runner's face turned ugly. He felt that this girl was unreasonable.

Would he be so helpless and furious?!

The older yamen runner remained expressionless. He simply felt that this young girl, despite her young age, had a rather bad temper...

Seeing that they were unmoved, Rubao felt even more angry.

She thought of Bai Lu.

It's all because of Bai Lu. If it weren't for her, how could I have ended up like this!

After she realized that her yelling was useless, she began to curse Bai Lu softly, muttering, "...It's all your fault, Bai Lu! You bitch! A bitch who's been ridden by thousands of men!!"

"I'm much prettier than you!"

"Who do you think you are? You're just a bitch! A bitch that no one wants!"

"Your father doesn't love you, and your mother doesn't care about you..."

The voice just fell.

"Snapped!"

A crisp slap was heard.

The young bailiff rushed to the prison door, put his arm through the gap in the bars, and slapped Rubao hard.

Rubao was hit so hard that her head turned sideways. Her cheek quickly became red and swollen, burning with pain.

She was stunned and couldn't react for a moment.

The young yamen runner's chest heaved violently, his eyes filled with anger.

"Say it again?"!

His voice was very low.

"If you dare to say anything bad about White Lady again, I will tear your mouth apart."

The older yamen runner did not try to stop him. He just watched silently, his face darkening.

In Qingzhou, Bai Lu is everyone's benefactor. No one can insult her in front of them.

Rubao finally came to her senses. Pain and humiliation instantly engulfed her.

"You...you dare to hit me?"

She covered her face and looked at the bailiff in front of her in disbelief.

"I kill you!"

She rushed towards the railing like a madman, trying to scratch the young yamen runner.

The young yamen runner took a step back, avoiding her hand. He pulled out the wooden stick from his waist and hit Rubao hard at the railing.

"what--!"

Rubao screamed miserably. The sticks fell on her arms, shoulders, and back.

She was beaten so badly that she curled up on the ground, unable to fight back.

The older yamen runner walked up and held his shoulders.

"enough."

"Don't beat him to death."

The young yamen runner finally stopped, breathing heavily, his eyes still red.

He put the stick back to his waist and glanced at Rubao who was groaning on the ground.

"What a lunatic."

He cursed under his breath.

The older yamen runner opened the door of another empty cell.

"Lock her in there."

"Let her sober up alone."

The two yamen runners worked together to drag out Rubao, who was covered in wounds and almost unable to move.

They threw her into the innermost solitary cell like a rag bag.

The iron gate was locked again.

The footsteps faded away.

Deathly silence returned to the prison.

All that was left was Rubao's suppressed crying.

She lay on the cold ground, every part of her body aching.

But the physical pain is far less than the humiliation and despair in my heart.

She cried for a long time, and her tears mixed with the dust on the ground, staining her pretty face.

The crying gradually turned into wailing.

"I want to see your Qingzhou Governor!"

She screamed with all her remaining strength.

"I am a noble from the Great Stone Kingdom! You are assaulting a foreign envoy!"

She placed her last hope on this identity.

However, there was no response from outside.

After a long time, footsteps were heard in the corridor. It was the old yamen runner from before.

He was holding a bowl of water and a piece of dry and hard bread.

He handed the thing in through the small window below the cell door.

"Emissary?"

He sneered disdainfully.

Rubao raised her head and looked at him with eyes full of hatred.

The older yamen runner paid no attention to her gaze. He leaned against the wall and spoke slowly.

"Little girl, if you want to make a lie, make it more convincing."

He paused, looking at Rubao's confused expression.

"The emperor of your Dashi Kingdom and your prince are now in Dawu."

"They should be visiting Kyoto right now."

"You are a noble from the Great Stone Kingdom. Why are you coming to our Qingzhou alone instead of following your emperor?"

Rubao's eyes suddenly widened. The color drained from her face.

impossible.

This is absolutely impossible!

“You…you’re talking nonsense!”

Her voice was trembling.

The older bailiff shrugged.

"Believe it or not."

He pushed the water and steamed bun in.

"I just came to tell you not to waste your energy."

"Impersonating an envoy is a serious crime."

After saying this, he turned and left. The sound of his footsteps gradually faded away in the empty corridor, and finally disappeared completely.

The prison fell into dead silence again.

Rubao sat on the ground in a daze.

The news plunged her into complete despair.

She truly became a helpless person in Dawu...

Totally hopeless.

She huddled in the corner of the cell, her body shaking with cold and fear.

At this moment, a name suddenly popped up from the depths of her mind.

Zhao Bingyu.

Mother.

Yes, and mother.

Mother holds an extraordinary position in this country. She is Bai Lu's mother.

Even if everyone betrays me, my mother will never do so.

She struggled to the cell door and banged on the iron bars with all her might.

"Someone! Come quickly!"

"I have something important to say! It concerns Bai Lu's mother!"

Soon, the two yamen runners came back, with an impatient look on their faces.

"What tricks are you trying to play?!"

The young bailiff asked sternly.

Rubao held onto the railing and tried to stand straight.

She raised her chin, and a hint of pride returned to her eyes.

"I'm not playing tricks."

"I am Zhao Bingyu's daughter in the Western Regions."

"Now, immediately, tell your Qingzhou governor."

"Tell him to come and see me!"

The bailiffs were stunned.

Zhao Bingyu. This name is known to everyone in Qingzhou.

She is the mother of White Snake.

But, didn't she die a long time ago?

But...people in Kyoto said that White Snake flattened her grave with her own hands...it seems she is not dead?

Daughter of the Western Regions?

The two yamen runners looked at each other. They saw shock and confusion in each other's eyes.

They had also heard a little about the recent great changes in Kyoto.

Rumor has it that the reason White Snake did that was because Zhao Bingyu abandoned her...

Could it be...could it be that the rumors are true?

Is Zhao Bingyu really not dead? Does she really have children of her own in the Western Regions?

Is that why White Snake was so resentful that she even went so far as to flatten her biological mother's grave?

The thought gave them a flutter.

This matter is too big. It is beyond their ability to handle.

"You wait here."

The older yamen runner said something to Rubao.

Then he turned and said to the young yamen runner.

"Keep an eye on her. I'll report to the prefect."

The young bailiff nodded and looked at Rubao in the prison with complicated eyes.

If what she said is true...then she is White Snake's sister?

How could Bailu have such a spoiled, brainless sister?!

......

In the study of the Qingzhou prefect.

He was handling official business. After listening to the report from the yamen runner, he put down the brush in his hand.

The magistrate of Qingzhou frowned tightly.

Zhao Bingyu's daughter? From the Western Regions?

The Qingzhou governor was silent for a long time. The air in the study seemed to freeze.

"Bring her here."

He finally spoke, his voice low.

"Bring it here."

Soon, Rubao was taken to the prefect's study.

The wounds on her body had not been treated and her clothes were still dirty and messy.

The Qingzhou governor raised his head and looked at her face.

Very similar.

The girl in front of him did have some similarities with Bai Lu in terms of her eyebrows and facial contours.

If you look more closely, you can find the shadow of Zhao Bingyu from the past on her face.

The Qingzhou governor's heart sank.

He waved his hand and asked the yamen runners to retreat.

He and Rubao were the only ones left in the study.

"What's your name?"

The Qingzhou prefect asked. His voice was calm, and no emotion could be detected.

Rubao looked at the man in front of her and felt a little nervous, but she still forced herself to answer.

"My name is Rubao."

The Qingzhou prefect nodded.

"Your mother is Zhao Bingyu?"

"Yes."

Rubao’s answer was very straightforward.

The Qingzhou governor asked some more questions about the Western Regions and the Great Stone Kingdom, and Rubao answered them one by one.

There was nothing wrong with her answer. Many of the details were impossible to fabricate without her own personal experience.

The Qingzhou prefect confirmed it.

She is really Zhao Bingyu's daughter.

He was silent.

This fact gave him a chill.

Zhao Bingyu.

The woman whose talent amazed the entire Dawu.

She actually didn't die.

Not only did she not die, she was still alive and well in the Western Regions, with a new family and a new daughter.

The Qingzhou prefect's gaze fell on Rubao again.

She was dressed elegantly, and her manners carried the arrogance of a carefully nurtured upbringing. It was obvious that she had grown up in a privileged environment.

He thought of Bai Lu.

I remembered the child who suffered in Liangzhou for twenty years.

I remembered how she struggled step by step in the face of adversity to get to where she is today.

Zhao Bingyu......

How could she be so cruel?

As a mother, how could she leave Bai Lu here alone for twenty years and let her live such a hard life?

How could she feel at ease raising her other daughter in such a pampered state in the Western Regions?

An indescribable anger surged in the heart of the Qingzhou governor!

As a godfather, I love Bai Lu very much and feel sorry for her...but why doesn't Zhao Bingyu, her biological mother, love her own daughter?

Rubao was a little scared when she saw the governor was silent and his face was gloomy.

But then he thought again, his identity had been confirmed, so he didn't dare to do anything to himself.

So she became bolder again.

"Now that you know my identity, you should understand that you can't lock me up."

Her tone was commanding.

"Now, let me out immediately."

She held her chin high, with a smug look on her face.

It seems that as long as Zhao Bingyu's name is mentioned, the whole world should make way for her.

The Qingzhou prefect slowly raised his head.

His eyes were cold.

"No."

He spit out two words.

Rubao was stunned.

"why?"

She couldn't believe her ears.

The Qingzhou governor stood up and walked in front of her.

"The emperor breaks the law and is guilty of the same crime as the common people."

"Not to mention you, even if you were the crown prince, you couldn't injure someone in the street and get away with it."

"You injured someone, so you must be punished according to Dawu's laws. I can't let you go."

Rubao was completely stunned. She had anticipated many possibilities, but she had never expected the other party to react like this.

How dare he?

How dare he ignore his mother?

Anger and grievance surged in my heart.

"You...you are all in cahoots with Bai Lu!"

She screamed.

"I know! All of this was planned by that evil woman Bai Lu!"

"She did it on purpose! She's jealous of me! Jealous that I have a mother who loves me!"

"So you all want to torture me and make things difficult for me!"

She blamed all her resentment on Bai Lu.

"Snapped!"

The Qingzhou governor raised his hand and gave her a loud slap in the face.

This slap was heavier than the previous one given by the yamen runner. Blood oozed from the corner of Rubao's mouth.

"shut up!"

The governor of Qingzhou was furious.

A mother's love?!

Wasn't Bai Lu's twenty years of loneliness caused by her mother?!

What right did she have to show off here? And what right did she have to say such cruel words?

The Qingzhou governor pointed at Rubao's nose and sneered, "You are not worthy to mention her name!"

"You're no match for your sister!"